Policy

The off-grid solar sector has shown resilience in the face of pandemic-related challenges, with 70 million people gaining access to electricity from early 2020 to the end of 2021. However, the ability to pay for solar energy kits has taken a hit.

The growth of utility-scale solar PV in India is marred by several challenges such as availability of land, limited local manufacturing capacity, high transmission and distribution losses, grid integration, and other inefficiencies.

Net metering reforms in the US are a missed opportunity to harness residential battery storage, argue researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Compensation rules for residential rooftop solar are evolving toward a model that encourages customers to use battery storage to maximize solar self-consumption. However, is this a good thing? Galen Barbose, Sydney P. Forrester, and Chandler Miller investigate.

A new report by GOGLA highlights the opportunities and challenges in establishing local manufacturing and assembly of solar-based decentralized energy solutions in India. It also explores the actions needed to maximize available opportunities.

Ravi Verma, senior executive vice president at Avaada, told pv magazine that the Group would invest $5 billion into setting up an integrated green hydrogen and ammonia plant with 6 GW of captive renewable energy capacity in the state. The green ammonia facility will have a production capacity of 1 million tons per annum. 

A new report by IEEFA says India’s power market design must evolve to transition faster to an ultra-low-cost renewable energy-based electricity system. 

Indian researchers have developed a new hybrid system featuring a conventional rooftop PV system, a solar tree, two gravity power modules for building (GPMBs), and a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB), with power exclusively provided by the two solar installations.

India has surpassed 10 GW of overall renewables capacity installed for offtake through open access.  

The amended Energy Conservation Bill sets a minimum usage clause for non-fossil fuel by high carbon-emitting sectors such as power, transport, industry, and buildings. It also includes provisions to incentivize decarbonization efforts by allowing carbon trading.

A new report says India will have only 50 million electric vehicles (EVs) on road by 2030 despite a ramp-up in domestic manufacturing, falling behind by 40% on the cumulative sales projections by NITI Aayog. It also recommends policy measures to improve India’s chances of realizing 80 million EV sales by 2030.